Keeping you up to date with the latest CorkSport Mazdaspeed news!
Category: MazdaSpeed 3
Mazdaspeed 3 was one of the most powerful FWD models Mazda ever built for production. It was turbocharged and had a 6 speed transmission and more torque steer than you could ask for.
Based on popular demand, we have developed a filter sock that will help fight dust and water spray from entering the engine. The CorkSport Mazda Air Filter Cover mod can help maintain the flow efficiency of your main filter and extend its service life.
Quality Materials
The Air Filter Cover is made from a polyamide fabric mesh and allows for good airflow while adding a layer of protection for your air filter and engine. The cover protects against dust, large debris, and light water spray from entering the filter media.
The small air filter sock works on 3.0, 3.5, & 4.0 marked air filters only
The large air filter sock works on the 4.5 marked air filter only
You can check your CorkSport air filter here:
If you don’t have a CorkSport specific intake, there is still a good chance your Mazda can enjoy the benefits of our air filter sock. Follow the diagram below to see if your air filter size matches:
Air Filter Sizes 3.0″, 3.5″, 4.0″
With fall upon us and winter just around the corner, now is the best time to add an extra layer of protection to your Mazda! Thanks for checking out the new air filter sock cover for your Mazda intake system.
Do you need to replace your swaybar end links and want an upgrade at the same time or are looking to adjust your sway bar to better match the factory position on your lowered car? That’s where the Performance Adjustable End Links come in and they are now available for the following models: 2019+ Mazda 3, 2014-2018 Mazda 3, 2021+ CX-30, 2022+ CX-50, 2014+ Mazda 6, 2013+ CX-5, 2016+ CX-9, and 2006-2007 Mazdaspeed 6. Depending on your specific application, both front and rear end links are available. The new CS Adjustable End Links build off of the wildly popular kit available for the Mazdaspeed 3 and carry over all the same benefits which are discussed below.
Why You Need End Links
Getting straight to the main advantage of the CS end links is their variable length. The CS end links offer ~18mm or 0.70in of adjustability. This results in an end link that can be up to 9mm longer or 9mm shorter when compared to the stock part.
If your car is lowered, our end links allow you to account for the change in sway bar position that occurs when you lower your car so it can be placed closer to its original position. When the sway bar is not positioned in the OE location it can lead to sway bar preload or binding which can have negative effects on handling. This also means that if you are planning on adding a lift they can help in the same way.
Quality Matters
The construction of the end links also maintains the same high quality as found in the current end links for the MazdaSpeed 3. The center section is CNC machined out of 2011-T3 5/8in hex aluminum to provide a large increase in size over the OE part while being easily adjusted to your specified length with a wrench. After machining, the center section then gets anodized in black to provide a finish that will help protect it from corrosion.
The included ball joints feature a sealed design to reduce the chance of water or other foreign material from gaining access to the joint. This allows the ball joint to provide a longer service life so that it won’t require any additional maintenance compared to the OE end links.
With the long new list of applications, you should have no problem finding a set of CS adjustable end links that will fit your Mazda. Be sure to head over to the product listing for your specific model for more info and pictures. As always, reach out if you have any questions about the end links for your setup.
Let’s face it, the first-gen Mazdaspeed3 platform is aging, and with that age comes ugly, yellow plastic tanks. We’ve even seen tanks crack and fail, causing coolant leaks, headaches, and eye sores for owners. It’s time we changed that.
CorkSport has developed a solution in the form of an aluminum replacement for these tired plastic tanks that fit and function just like OEM! Our tanks also come coated in a beautiful black powder coat that will look right at home with any color in any engine bay. Our tanks are robust and will stand the test of time for years to come.
But why aluminum? Why do we even have a tank, to begin with? What does it do?Let’s start by going over how a cooling system works.
TW: It’s about to get a little nerdy!
Understanding Heat Transfer in Cooling Systems
Think about a hot summer’s day. You’re sweating from a hard day of wrenching on the Mazda in the garage and desperately need a cool down, so you place a cold, wet, refreshing towel around your neck. Initially, when you place that cool towel around your neck, you only feel the cold in one place: around your neck. But pretty soon, you feel the cold spread throughout your body and begin cooling down.
This feeling, however, is misleading as there is no such thing as “cold.” There is only heat and a lack of heat. What’s happening is the heat that you feel on your body is being transferred into the cool towel, and the blood that passes through your neck is cooled as a result. As this blood with less heat (i.e., “cooled”) circulates around your body, you feel the effect of that towel all throughout until all of your blood is cooled, and you begin to feel better! You’ll notice after some time that the towel is no longer cool because it has absorbed the heat from your body and the surrounding air. Remember: heat moves from hot to cold and wants to spread until an equilibrium is met.
How Automotive Cooling Systems Work
Automotive cooling systems work on the same principle. Replace that towel with a radiator, your blood with automotive coolant, and the engine as a heat source, and now you have an automotive cooling system! As the cold coolant passes through the engine, it absorbs the heat generated by the combustion cycle and friction in the cylinders. Some of this hot coolant is then passed through your HVAC system, where some of this heat can be used to heat the cabin (this is how your heater works), and the rest is passed to the radiator for cooling. Once cooled by moving air, it is then passed again into the engine, where it works to cool it down. Then the cycle continues. This is the same basis of how Turbo front mount intercoolers operate. For more information on these systems, check out our Front Mount Intercoolers.
So where does the tank come in?
Naturally, as things heat up, they expand. Coolant is no exception to this rule, and this is usually combated with an expansion tank to capture any excess volume. What makes the MazdaSpeed 3 cooling system unique is that the expansion tank is incorporated into the main flow path of the coolant, with the expansion volume built into the reservoir design. This design of combining the expansion tank with a reservoir simplifies the system without the need for additional tanks or hoses. This can also be compared visually with the fill point of the cooling system. On most vehicles, it is located on top of the radiator, but on the Speed3, it is located on the tank directly. This means that the tank itself is pressurized when the system is hot, which introduces a challenge with material selection.
Mazdaspeed’s Need For A Better Tank
Since the OEM tank is made of plastic, it is more vulnerable to degradation over time. Once the tank has deteriorated enough, it cannot withstand the pressure changes and high-temperature cycles of the coolant system. It will eventually fail, leading to many owners complaining of cracks and leaks. The TIG welded aluminum construction and powder coating of our tanks mean that they are substantially more resilient than the OEM tanks and will last for years to come.
Power Steering Tank
The 2007-2009 Mazdaspeed 3 power steering tank is much simpler as its only function is to hold fluid, and the system is only slightly pressurized, meaning no expansion volume has to be built into the tank design and the temperatures are much lower. However, the OEM tank is still made of the same ugly plastic as the coolant tank and has the same disadvantages. While this tank does not see the same failure rate as the coolant tank, we decided to take the opportunity anyway to fully complete the look of the engine bay and provide our customers with a comprehensive solution to replace all of the aging plastic tanks to improve the appearance of the engine bay vastly.
Fitment and Design
We understand that universal tanks are such a pain. We have experienced this with some of our cars and have had to design and fabricate custom brackets to make them fit. This is a headache, not to mention having to cut or move OEM hoses or custom-make our own. Retaining OEM fit and function is the easiest and most effective design for installation, and that is exactly what we have done for our tanks!
If you want to purchase one (or both) of our Aluminum Tanks for your Mazdaspeed 3, today is the day!
CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 Coilovers are back and ready for your street and track Mazdaspeed 3 and Mazda 3! Taking the feedback from the previous generation of CS Coilovers and applying those to the new hotness has created a design that best balances performance for the street and track.
No longer using an inverted design, we opted for a more conventional, but performance-oriented monotube design with a pressure chamber. A monotube design was used for its superior damping response and precision vs a twin tube design. With that, we have increased the resolution of damping control from a 15-click range to a 30-click range giving you more fine-tuning control.
Installed Mazdaspeed Coilover with CS Springs
Next, the fronts now have independent spring load and ride height adjustability. This gives you the ultimate control in spring setup and ride height without affecting each other to do so. This helps to keep suspension travel optimized within the damper and makes adjusting ride height simpler.
Swift Springs For Coilovers
Lastly, you may have noticed there are two different colored springs. We are offering two options for springs; CorkSport Red Coilover springs and Swift Spring upgrade. Even though there is no spring rate change for Swift, we still wanted to offer the option for those who swear by them. We suggest the daily driver opt for red springs and save money for some other goodies like Camber Arms, Toes Arms, or a Rear Swaybar. If you are wanting to push your car on the track, you may notice the Swift spring upgrade. Either way, you get to decide!
Talking about springs, we did “soften” the overall spring rates slightly per the requests of the community. For the balance of comfort and performance, we are using 6k fronts and 7k rear springs.
Now to the things that you already loved about the Mazdaspeed 3 Coilovers just get better! Included with the front strut assemblies are camber adjustable upper mounts so you can dial in your camber, wheels speed wiring harness brackets for OEM like installation and of course the needed rear hardware and adjustment wrenches.
Now let’s chat about ride heights. While the CS coilovers are designed around handling, we can’t ignore the great visual boost that comes with lowering a car. The CS coilovers offer a large range of height adjustability. In the front, you can adjust the height from ~0.5” higher than OEM all the way down to ~2.0” lower than OEM (+0.5” to -2.0”). For the rear, you can go from ~0.25” higher than OEM all the way down to ~2.0” lower than OEM (+0.25” to -2.0”). This is 2.5” of total adjustability in the front and 2.25” of total adjustability in the rear.
Mazdaspeed 3 Coilover Maximum Ride HeightMazdaspeed 3 Minimum Ride Height
This is a great balance that allows for proper suspension function at low heights for those who want a stance look while also offering an OEM+ look for those that prefer a more subtle appearance. Don’t worry though, wherever you end up on the height range, the lowering does come with handling benefits as well, such as a lower center of gravity, decreased body roll, and improved driver confidence!
Welcome to part 4 of the Mazdaspeed3 AWD Swap! If you missed the previous posts, you can catch the Intro, (Part 2), and Part 3. This blog will cover the rear suspension design, specifically the rocker arms, and how we came to the size, shape, and overall design. This will get technical with numbers, angles, and CAD models.
Before we get into the technical jargon, let’s cover the “what” with rocker arm suspension.
Mazdaspeed 3 AWD Swap Rocker Arm Suspension
Let’s break down this diagram as it is 100% not OEM for the Mazdaspeed 3:
Rocker Arm: This is the keystone of the suspension design and does all the work. The rocker arm connects the push rod and the damper to transfer suspension force at a different angle. The rocker arms can also go by a few names: rocker arm, bell crank, cantilever, and pivot arm, to name a few.
Push Rod: This is a simple rod with spherical rod ends on each end. This connects the OEM suspension to the rocker arm. The push rod is in a similar location as the OEM suspension.
Suspension Mounting Bracket: This is the mounting point for the push rod to the OEM suspension trailing arm. This must be added because the OEM damper mount is below the now-new axle shaft.
Coilover/Damper: This is an off-the-shelf damper that can have a coil spring installed on it. It features independent rebound and compression damping adjustability.
Cross Member: This is the cross member that is welded between the chassis shock towers in the car to support the new rocker arm suspension.
Here you can see the design tack welded in the car. This should help you understand how the design fits and is used in the car itself.
Mazdaspeed AWD Suspension Corss Member TackedMazdaspeed AWD Suspension Push Rod Mount
Now that we have a basic understanding of this rocker arm-style suspension let’s get into some more details!
First, let’s talk about suspension and the forces they deal with. Gravity pushes you and your car down to the ground, and road imperfections (bumps, potholes, unlevel surfaces) try to push you and your car up/down/all around while driving. If vehicles did not have suspension and instead the wheels were rigidly attached to the vehicle chassis, we would have all sorts of issues. Comfort, control, and tractions are the big concerns, amongst many others.
The suspension’s job is to soak up and move with many road imperfections like bumps, potholes, and unlevel surfaces. Every time your tire goes over a bump or pothole, it moves up or down, resulting in a force transferred into the suspension.
Check out this quick illustration to see the rocker arm suspension in motion:
As the tire moves up/down, you can see that the rocker arm pivots and transfers that motion into the coilover/damper.
Now let’s break down those forces a bit more. The rocker arm allows us to change the angle of the forces transferred to a new angle that is easier for us to deal with. Instead of being required to have a coilover/damper in a vertical suspension down around the tire (like OEM), I can now change the angle so I can put the coilover/damper in a position that is much easier to deal with.
Rocker Arm Suspension Mazdaspeed Swap Forces
The rocker arm has two major features about it.
The angle change of transferred forces, as we just discussed. This is mainly to help with “positioning” the suspension components.
The rocker arm lengths allow us to define the “motion ratio” of the suspension. Looking at the diagram, you can see a blue line and a green line. These effective rocker arm lengths affect the suspension and result in a motion ratio.
The resulting ratio is 1:0.7 meaning the damper compresses 70% of the amount that the wheel moves up/down.
The wheel/tire has a maximum range of 5.55 inches of travel, while the damper has a maximum travel of 3.875 inches.
Designing the rocker arm with this 1:0.7 motion ratio allowed me to use a smaller, lighter damper design with limited travel and still get the desired wheel suspension travel I needed. We use a stiffer spring to compensate for the extra leverage of the motion ratio.
Motion ratios in suspension are common. For example, the Mazdaspeed 3 suspension has a unique motion ratio in the front (1:0.98) and rear (1:0.71) from our calculations. These numbers are typical of the style of suspension found in many commuter cars these days.
Now that we understand the forces and the intent with the rocker am…we have to design its shape and size to do the job. Angles are the tricky parts of the rocker arm design. Defining the angles (and thus shape) comes down to understanding the push rod input angles and the desired damper output angles while in motion.
Rocker Arm Suspension Mazdaspeed AWD Swap Angles
When we say “angles,” we are talking about the red arrows in the above diagram. These red arrows are the angles between the rocker arm and the push rod, as well as the rocker arm and the damper. Ideally, these angles are always 90 degrees through the entire motion you see in the GIF, but that is not physically possible, so we had to find the correct balance of angles while in motion.
A whole lot of math encompasses this, but the upcoming diagrams will help break it down to a very understandable level for everyone! We are breaking it down to the three major suspension travel points: droop, bump and ride height.
First, we are going to look at the angles for the push rod in Bump, Ride Height, and Droop.
Bump is when the suspension is fully compressed.
Ride Height is when the car is sitting stationary (static).
Droop is when the suspension is fully decompressed. Image your car sitting on jack stands with the tires hanging in the air.
Mazdaspeed 3 AWD Rocker Arm Angle Bump Pushrod
In full bump, the push rod angle to the rocker arm decreases to 67 degrees which is 23 degrees off the “ideal” 90.
Mazdaspeed 3 AWD Rocker Arm Angle Ride Height Pushrod
Then looking at ride height as the suspension moves downward from full bump. The damper-to-rocker arm angle decreases to 82 degrees which is 8 degrees off the “ideal” 90.
Mazdaspeed 3 AWD Rocker Arm Angle Droop Push Rod
Lastly, with the suspension traveling to full droop. The push rod to rocker arm angle increases to 117.5 degrees which is 27.5 degrees off the “ideal” 90.
What does this mean? This is great, actually! Ride height is where the suspension will function most of the time, and that is only 5 degrees off the ideal 90-degree angle. When the car is launched in a drag race, the suspension is going to compress, and that angle will decrease, passing through the ideal 90-degree angle and further. This is precisely the balance we are looking for with the rocker arm design. To keep it functioning most of the time as close to 90 degrees as possible.
Ok, let’s look at the angles from the damper side of the rocker arm.
Mazdaspeed 3 AWD Rocker Arm Angle Bump Damper
In full bump, the damper angle to the rocker arm increases to 111.5 degrees which is 21.5 degrees off the “ideal” 90.
Mazdaspeed 3 AWD Rocker Arm Angle Ride Height Damper
Then looking at ride height as the suspension moves downward from the full bump. The damper-to-rocker arm angle decreases to 82 degrees which is 8 degrees off the “ideal” 90.
Mazdaspeed 3 AWD Rocker Angle Droop Damper
With the suspension traveling to full droop, the damper-to-rocker arm angle decreases to 62 degrees which is 28 degrees off the “ideal” 90.
Again we have the damper near the “ideal” 90-degree angle at ride height and then pass through the 90-degree angle zone when the suspension compresses at launch. Again, the balanced angles we are trying to design for so the suspension function in the “ideal” angle range most of the time.
Why are the angles so important? The further you get from the “ideal” 90-degree angle, the more non-linear the suspension acts. When the suspension acts in a linear function, it is tunable and predictable to drive. If it is non-linear, then it makes tuning and use much more difficult…this results in inconsistent launching and driving, which is not good in a racing environment.
Mazdaspeed AWD Swap Racecar Suspension
This seems like a lot of work…why do it?
A few reasons, really:
Moving to the rocker arm design gave me a lot of control over how I set up my Mazdaspeed for racing.
It also gave me the ability to use readily available off-the-shelf dampers. This allowed me to get double adjustable dampers (rebound and compressor) for a very cost-effective price.
The CX7 AWD swap rear axle shafts did not allow me to use the OEM dampers anyways.
This design moves more of the suspension component’s weight to “sprung mass” which is better.
I love the challenge of designing a suspension system like this, and this was a great opportunity!
Before we wrap things up, note the rocker arms are 6061-T6 billet and are massive! We knew they were big, but it didn’t really sink in until we saw them firsthand.
Rocker Arm Size ComparisonRocker Arm Size Comparison 2
Alright, that wraps up the rocker arm suspension design, a huge novelty for the build. There are plenty more huge milestones to overcome, and those are coming up in this multi-part blog series!
I hope you are enjoying this series about the AWD Swap Mazdaspeed3, stay tuned for more blogs to come!
